Tractor mounted shoulder maintainer



Feb. 17, 1959 J. B. CODLIN TRACTOR MOUNTED SHOULDER MAINTAINER 3Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 5, 1953 m. MN

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ATTORNEYS,

Feb. 17, 1959 J. B. CODLIN TRACTOR MOUNTED SHOULDER MAINTAINER 3Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 5, 1953 IN VEN TOR; gimfi 50M BY zZWW/ MWATTOR NE Y5 Feb. 17, 1959 J. B. CODLIN 2,873,542

TRACTOR MOUNTED SHOULDER MAINTAINER Filed Aug. 5, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 5ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent O TRACTOR MOUNTED SHOULDER MAINTAINER James B.Cpdlin, Deerfield, Ill.,assignor to Tractomotive Corporation, Deerfield,111., a corporation of Illinois Application August '5, 1953, Serial'No.372,542 2 Claims. (Cl. 37-155) This invention relates to shouldermaintainers and more particularly to a mechanism for supporting anangular scraper blade from a tractor, or-the like, for leveling roadwaysand similar surfaces.

.In scraping roadways and similar surfaces to smooth and-level them, ithas beenthe common practice to employ an angular scraper blade carriedby a tractor and set to cut the surface to the desired depth and smoothit. Loose materialscraped up by such blades is carried to one endthereof and deposited in the form of a windrow. It has heretofore beenproposed to provide a second or shoulder maintainer blade following thefirst blade to deposit such material uniformly across the scrapedsurface.

The present invention relates to a shoulder maintainer of this generaltype and has for one of its objects the plOVISlOnDf means by which theblade is supported simply and inexpensively for accurately distributingmaterial in a windrow over the scraped surface.

Another object is to provide a shoulder maintainer in which the tilt oftheblade can easily and accurately be controlled from the tractor.

Still another object is to provide a shoulder maintainer in which theblade angle is adjusted by shifting one of the supporting linkslengthwise, thereby tilting the frame which carries the blade about anaxis at an acute angle to the blade length.

A further object is toprovide a shoulder maintainer in which bladeclearance is accurately maintained by ground wheels carried-bythe frameand by one end of the blade. Preferably, such ground wheels arevertically adjustable to adjust the clearance and to compensate for wearof the blade and the tires.

The above and other objects and features of the invention will be morereadily apparent from thefollowing description when read in connectionwith the accompanying drawing in which- Figure 1 is a partial side viewof a tractorequipped with a shoulder maintainer embodying the invention;

'FigureZ is a partial enlarged side elevation of the blade supportingmechanism;

Figure 3 is a partial plan view of the blade supporting mechanism;

Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Figure 3; and

Figure 5 is a partial perspective view of a tractor equipped with ashoulder maintainer embodying the invention.

The shoulder maintainer of the present invention is adapted to becarried by any desired type of tractor such as that indicated generallyat in Figure 1 which in use will travel from left to right, as seen. Thetractor may be equipped with a scraper blade forwardly of the shouldermaintainer blade which will scrape the surface to smooth and level itand which will throw up loose material in the form of a windrow. Thescraper blade of the present invention is adapted to distribute materialin such a windrow uniformly across the scraped surface following theinitial scraping operation.

ice

The tractor carries a linkage on which the shoulder maintainer issupported and, as shown, is provided with a frame 11 to which thelinkage is attached. In the form illustrated, the linkage comprisesajpair of main links of beams 12 pivoted at opposite sides of thetractor on horizontal axes near the rear portion of the frame 11. For-Wardly of the pivotal connection of the beams 12, the frame 11 haspivoted thereto hydraulic cylinders .13' whose piston rods 14 extendoutwardly for pivotal connection to cross links 15 pivoted at theirlower ends to the main links 12. As shown, each cross .link is pro=vided with spaced ears 16 to which the outer end of the piston rod 14may be selectively connected to vary the degree of control over thescraper blade. An upper link 17 generally parallel to the main link 12extends from the upper end of the cross link 15, as shown.

The links 12 and '17 carry a generally rectangular frame, includinguprights 18 and cross members 20, on which the shoulder maintainer bladeis mounted. As best seen in Figure 2, the links 12 and 17 are pivotallyconnected to the uprights 18 or to brackets thereon at vertically spacedpoints. As seen in plan in Figure 3, rearmember 19 is secured at one endto the lower cross member 20 and lies at an acute angle to the axes ofthe pivotal connections between the links 12 and the frame and also atan acute angle to the vertical plane in which the links -12 and 17 areadapted to swing. The member 19 is secured to the frame 18 by a lowerangle iron brace 19a intermediate its ends, a box section brace 190. atits end and a tubular brace 1% extending from the upper cross member 20to the member 19. As shown in Figure'4, the member 19 carries downwardlyprojecting support members 21 at spaced points in its length to the.lower ends of which the shoulder maintainer blade 22 is connected.Preferably, the blade 22 has brackets 23 projecting from its rearsurface which arepivoted to the lower ends of the support members 21.The angle of the shoulder maintainer blade about its pivotal connectionto the support members can be ad-' justed throughlinks 24 pivoted to theshoulder maintainer blade near its upper edge and formed with apluralityof spaced openings through which a bolt 2-5 can extend toconnect the links 24 to the support members 21. In this way, thescraping angle of the blade 22 can easily be adjusted. Preferably, aremovable scraping edge 26 is provided on the blade 22 which can bereversed or replaced as it wears so that the whole blade does notrequire replacement.

The frame 18-24) and member 19 are supported for movement at apredetermined distance above the ground on a ground wheel indicated at27. As shown, the frame is formed with extensions 28 at one side thereofand with an angle brace 30 connected to the lower frame cross member 29,all carrying a bracket 29 upon which the ground wheel is mounted forvertical adjustment. For this purpose, the bracket 29 carries a threadedpin 31 threaded through a nut 32 secured to the bracket. A yoke 33- isfreely pivoted on the pin and engages a thrust collar 34 near the upperend of the pin which takes the vertical load on the wheel. The rod canbe threaded through the nut 29 by means of a cross pin 35 extendingloosely through an opening in the pin and having one end bent overeither to serve as a crank or to hook into a book 36 to hold it againstaccidental turning. A spring 37 urges the pin in a direction to engagethe hook so that when it is hooked in place, it will be securely heldagainst accidental displacement.

To adjust the ground wheel vertically with respect to the frame therebyto vary the height of the frame, the pin 35 may be pushed inward todisengage the hook 36 and may then be used as a crank to turn thethreaded pin 31 thereby to move the thrust collar 34 up or down and thuschange the elevation of the frame.

One end of the blade is preferably supported on a similar ground wheel38 which is vertically adjustable through a mechanism identical to thatjust described. The framework 39 for the ground wheel 38 may be secureddirectly to the blade 22, as best seen in Figure 3 and preferably liesat the end of the blade closest to the tractor where a projection of itsaxis is adjacent to the axis of the ground wheel 27. The framework 39may be braced by an angle strut 40 secured to the blade 22 at a pointspaced from its end.

According to the present invention, the tilt of the blade 22 is adjustedby tilting the frame 18 about its points of pivotal connection to thelinks 12 and 17. For this purpose, the cylinder 13 may be controlledthrough 'a valve 41 to expand or contract, thereby to vary the effectivelength between the pivotal connection to the tractor frame 11 and to thevertical link 15. Expansion or contraction of the cylinder 13 will causethe link 17 to move lengthwise and will tilt the main frame 1820 aboutthe horizontal axis on. which the frame 1820 is pivoted to the links 12.Since the blade itself lies at an acute angle to the pivotal axis of thelinkage, the angle of its scraping edge relative to horizontal will beadjustable by tilting of the frame. The ground wheel 38 will maintainthe forward edge of the blade at a predetermined distance above theground and the frame will be held a predetermined distance above theground by the ground wheel 27. Since the axes of both wheels 27 and 38are spaced from the axis about which the frame 1820 pivots they willboth tend to rise or fall through approximately the same distance as theframe pivots. The frame will rise or fall as it pivots so that thewheels 27 and 38 remain in engagement with the ground at all times.Therefore, the trailing edge of the blade will be raised or lowered bytilting of the frame 18 so that it will effect the desired scraping orspreading operation to distribute material in the windrow uniformlyacross the previously scraped surface. It will be seen that thisadjustment can be effected very simply and accurately from the tractorthrough the control valve 41 so that the operator can change the angleof the shoulder maintainer blade from time to time, as required withoutleaving the tractor or without the necessity of stopping it.

When it is desired to lift the shoulder maintainer for transport, or thelike, a second hydraulic cylinder 42 connected to the main link 12 maybe employed to swing the main link vertically and to lift the entireframe 18 and scraper blade to a convenient height for transport.

While one embodiment of the invention has been shown and described indetail, it will be understood that this is illustrative only and is notto be taken as a definition of the scope of the invention, referencebeing had for this purpose to the appended claims.

' What is claimed is:

1. A shoulder maintainer for use with a tractor comprising linkageconnected to the tractor for swinging in a vertical plane and includingvertically spaced substantially parallel links, a frame connected atvertically spaced points thereon to the links, the linkage maintainingthe frame in substantially the same angular position relative tovertical and horizontal planes therethrough regardless of the elevationthereof, a blade carried by the frame at an acute angle to said verticalplane as projected on a horizontal plane, one end of the bladeterminating at a point longitudinally beyond the frame and the other endat a point longitudinally between the frame and the tractor, aground-engaging wheel carried by the frame on an axis parallel to saidvertical plane to support the frame above the ground, said other end ofthe blade lying substantially in alignment with the axis of the wheel,and power means operable from the tractor to shift one of the linkslengthwise to tilt the frame about a horizontal axis thereby to changethe angle of the blade to the horizontal, the wheel maintaining saidother end of the blade at a substantially constantdistance above theground as the frame is tilted.

2. A shoulder maintainer for use with a tractor comprising linkageconnected to the tractor for swinging in a vertical plane and includingvertically spaced substantially parallel links, a frame connected atvertically spaced points thereon to the links, the linkage maintainingthe frame in substantially the same angular position relative tovertical and horizontal planes therethrough regardless of the elevationthereof, a blade carried by the frame at an acute angle to said verticalplane as projected on a horizontal plane, one end of the bladeterminating at a point longitudinally beyond the frame and the other endat a point longitudinally between the frame and the tractor, aground-engaging wheel carried by the frame on an axis parallel to saidvertical plane to support the frame above the ground, a ground-engagingwheel on said other end of the blade to maintain it a predetermineddistance above the ground, said ground-engaging wheels lying on closelyspaced parallel axes parallel to said vertical plane, and power meansoperable from the tractor to shift one of the links lengthwise to tiltthe frame about a horizontal axls thereby to change the angle of theblade to the horizontal.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS621,371 Philip Mar. 21, 1899 1,876,604 Bruner et al Sept. 13, 19321,920,475 Meyer Aug. 1, 1933 2,238,389 Kerber A Apr. 15, 1941 2,259,747Gustafson Oct. 21, 1941 2,283,744 Lethlean May 19, 1942 2,437,059Williams Mar. 2, 1948 2,564,355 Danuser Aug. 14, 1951 2,565,337 AllanAug. 21, 1951 2,566,547 Bartlett Sept. 4, 1951 2,579,651 Covielle Dec.25, 1951 2,641,983 Crum June 16, 1953 2,652,642 Gifford et al Sept. 22,1953 2,668,631 Reese Feb. 9, 1954 Schwindt et al Mar. 22, 1955

